Biden Maintains Lead in South Carolina Ahead of Saturday’s Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden holds a sizable lead in South Carolina, backed by strong support among African-American voters, according to a new Monmouth University poll released Thursday.

Bernie Sanders, who has overtaken Biden in national polls, is fighting with billionaire Tom Steyer for second place in Saturday’s primary vote.

Among likely Democratic voters, 36% support Biden, 16% Sanders and 15% Steyer, who has been focusing his money and efforts on the state. The other candidates -- Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Tulsi Gabbard -- are all in single digits, below the 15% threshold to win statewide delegates. Another 15% of likely primary voters were undecided. Michael Bloomberg, who is also seeking the nomination, is not on the ballot in South Carolina.

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Among black voters, who form a majority of the likely primary electorate, Biden has 45% support to only 17% for Steyer and 13% for Sanders. White voters are more divided, with Biden at 26% followed by Sanders at 17%, Warren and Buttigieg at 13%, and Steyer at 12%.

In Monmouth’s October poll, 33% supported Biden, 16% Warren and 12% Sanders.

The South Carolina poll was conducted by phone Feb. 23-25 and had a margin of error of 4.6 percentage points.

To contact the reporter on this story: Magan Crane in Washington at mcrane19@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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